Bottle closure



May 15, 1928. 1 I 1,669,715

- w. e. LAIDLAW I i BOTTLE CLOSURE Filed April 25, 1927 Patented May'15, 1928.

RATION, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK,

Mil 59,715 OUNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE;

WALTER e. LAIDLAW, or SYRACUSE, new YORK, AssIe on 'ro. xLEEN KAI001120- A; CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

BOTTLE CLOSURE.

Application filed April 25, 1927. Serial No. 138,379.

This invention relates to improvements in fibrous bottle closures of thetype having a central disc-shaped body, that is disposed in the recessof the mouth. of an'ordinary milk bottle, the said body being formedwith an integral flexible flaring apron that overlies the annular beadof the mouth.

The object of the present invention is to provide means for stiffeningthe peripheral margin of the apron of the closure for facilitatinghandling thereof, and at the same time rendering the said marginimpervious to moisture, for preventing softening and distorting of theapron and rendering it liable to separate from the bead and to allowgerms and dirt to enter between the apron and the head. A further objectis to provide a lac oer-like coating, which may be applied by flippingthe apron, the said coating being of such nature that it dries or setsreadily and quickly and becomes relatively hard, and yet is tough andslightly pliable, whereby when the coating is applied to the oppositefaces of the apron, it stitfens the periphery of the apron and rendersthe latter conformable to the flare of the bead when applied underpressure. The coating is also preferably slightly tenacious, for aidingin maintaining the contact of the closure with the head of the mouth, sothat it requires considerable force to separate the apron from the beadfor removing the closure. A further object is to provide thelacquer-like coating in difi'erent colors, whereby the product of eachmilk producer or vendor in a community may be instantly the'color of thecoated clothatin case unauthorized persons attempt to remove the closure(which may only be accomplished by lifting one side of the apron), the uward flexing of any portion of the coated margin after the disc isproperly seated in the recess tends to fracture the lacquer and rendersthe apron incapable of 7 being restored to its original closecontactwith the beadof the mouth. -This fracturing as well as the distortion ofthe apron will clearly indicate tampering.

The various features and parts of the invention will be understood fromthe detailed description which follows, and by reference to theaccompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a central vertical section,showing the neck and mouth of a common milk of the apron 6' bottle, towhich my improvement is applied. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of theclosure, showing the area coated with the lacquer. Fig. 3 is an edgeview of the closure. And Fig. 4 is a bottom face view of the closure,showing the coating applied to the underside of the apron.

In the drawing, 2 represents an ordinary milk bottle, havin a neck 2 anda depressed mouth 3, w ich is surrounded by a flaring bead 4. The bottomof the recess 3 comprises a ledge 5, which provides an annular seat forthe bottle closure.

The present closure may follow any suitalayed with a reinforcing disc,as 7, of stiller cardboard, the disc portion 6 preferablybeing suroundedby a rolled flaring apron or flange 6', which is arranged to overlie theconvex bead 4, when the discs are seated on the ledge 5.

The foregoin describes a well-known bottle closure, which is coming intocommon use.- These closures effect the satisfactory sealing of thebottle mouth, aprons, as 6', owing'to the fact that they are relativelythin, and .in the process of rolling or molding the said aprons, thefiber becomes somewhat crushed and is rendered more or less'limp, andtends to become ruflled and distorted in the vicinity of its peripheralmargin and does not conform to or intimately adhere to the curvedsurface of the bead. This invariably leaves a large number of smallopenings or gaps between the apron and the bead to admit dirt and erms.It is essential in a bottle closure o this type that the member H berelatively thin and light in order that it may be readll molded to thedesired shape and in view 0 the fact that the normal stiffness of thematerial is convex a ron that snugly fits the bead when the cap isapplied to the bottle.

The present invention has for its primary object to provide simple andeffective means for stiffening the peripheral margin bycoating, as at 8and. 8, the to and bottom surfaces therepf with a quic dryingsemi-liquid preparation, the

but the flaring said coating being relatively thick and more or lesselastic, and being preferably applied to the apron as it comes from themolding machine, and while the apron is still in its normalconcavo-convex state, the closures being handled thereafter in a mannerto effect the rapid drying and setting of the coating without distortingthe apron. By this method of treating the rolled apron 6. the closuremay be packed, shipped, and then applied by the usual capping machinesin a manner to effect the close or intimate engagement of the apron withthe head 4, as shown in Fig. 1.

I For this purpose, I prefer to employ a lacquer-like substancepreferably prepared in a suitable viscous state, and which may beapplied by dipping the peripheral margin o the closure in thesemi-liquid, or by any other well-known method. I prefer to coat theunderside of the apron 6' that contacts with the head 4, to a slightlygreater extent than its external or top surface, as may be understood bycomparing Figs. 2 and 4. By this means a broader surface of the lacqueris brought into contact with the glass, and as the said preparation whenproperly conditioned is preferably slightly tenacious, a broader andmore effectual seal of the parts results.

In practice the closures are stacked in a relatively tall cylindricalmagazine, which is disposed adjacent the capping machine, and theclosures are carried into the machine by a shuttle-like member thattravels back and forth beneath the magazine, and ateach forward strokemoves the lowermost closure into the capping position. In performing itswork, the feeding member engages the peripheral margins of the closureswith sufficient force to eject them from the magazine. The forcerequired to eject the closures varies according to the height of thestack and weight exerted by the stack upon the lowermost closure. Ithas; been found that the feeding of the plain unlacquered paper closuresis not reliable, for the reason that the aprons, as 6', having beenrendered more or less limp by the process of molding, as explained, tendto buckle and crush during the initial ejecting movement of said memberand before the closure actually starts on its way toward the cappingposition. This distorting of the apron results in the shortening of theeffective stroke of the ejecting member to such extent that themutilated closures are not carried forwardly the distance required tobring them in registery with the recess of the bottle mouth. This notonly interrupts and retards the capping operation but also causes awaste and loss of a large number of closures. This trouble, annoyanceand waste is entirely obviated by coating the aprons of the closure withthe lacquer 8, which etfectually stifi'ens and hardens the peripheralmargins of the apron, and prevents the buckling and crushing of the saidpart.

The coated apron 6' may be readily separated from the bead 4 by grippingit with the finger nails, and by pulling on the loosened portion forpeeling off the closure. The nature of the coating material ispreferably such that in case of unauthorized removal of the cap, thelacquer will show fracture where the apron is bent abruptly, by theseparating operation, and will accordingly indicate visually the fact ofsuch tampering. In case the closure is broken or distorted by thelifting or peeling of the apron 6', the separated and mutilated portionof the apron cannot be again smoothed out and made to closely fit thebead without detection. The coating is furthermore preferably imperviousto moisture, and prevents the apron from becoming water-soaked andliable to become loose or fouled by dirt and germs.

By coating the closures with the lacquer enables me to utilize somewhatlighter and cheaper grade of paper than heretofore employed for thepurpose.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, is

A bottle closure including a disk like body formed to seat in the recessof a bottle mouth and having a concavo-convex annular apron formed ofmaterial thinner than that of the disk and adapted to overlie the headof the bottle mouth and being of a width so that its peripheryterminates at substantially the center of the width of the bead, and acoating of quick dryingl and setting plastic composition covering t eopposite faces of the marginal portion of the apron, said compositionbeing of such thickness and character so as to stiffen and maintain thepredetermined shape of the marginal portion of the apron, thereby toprevent buckling thereof, during the capping operation, said coatingalso covering the peripheral edge of the apron and being of a width toresist any tendency of the feeding shuttle of the capping machine whichengages said edge to distort the apron thereby to effect accurateregister of the apron with the bottle mouth.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

WVALTER G. LAIDLAW.

